A Heart of Ice
by Veronica Shadow
Summary: The battle for New York was lost. Loki now rules all of Earth. The Avengers are locked away, powerless and unable to keep consciousness long enough to plan escape. With everything he ever wanted Loki should be happy, but he isn't. He's lonely. So now there's one thing left for him to get...a friend?
1. Chapter 1: Volunteer

Loki looks out at the ruined city from the throne he had his soldiers put on the balcony of the top of the building. He feels a twinge of regret when looking out at the broken buildings and the streets cluttered with debris but he quickly shakes it away. After all, he is rebuilding the city for them, the Midgardians should be grateful. Is Loki a tyrantal leader? No, he didn't take much away from them. All he asked for was their loyalty. He is a good king. Loki finally had everything he ever wanted, he should be content. And yet, he is not. Loki finds himself lonely, his Chitauri are not much for conversation. After contemplating on this for several hours he made a decision. He would find someone to bring into his home, one of his subjects. Someone he would not have to control. Recently, Loki had learned of humans with something that was called an 'X-gene', that gave them exceptional powers. This would be the right kind of companion to have with him. It is then, as he looked out from what used to be Stark Towers that he decides to find himself what he tells himself could be a friend.

Hundreds gather in the square that Loki comes to speak in. The people nervously await, worrying over what their leader could be declaring next. Almost minutes later, Loki walks out onto the stage that is placed in the front of the square. "I require one of you! Which is worthy enough to serve your great ruler?" He calls out to them. The people in the crowd look at each other in fear. "The person will have to be what your people call a mutant! Before I have to search the city, do I have any volunteers?" Amongst the crowd, there is a girl of 23, a mutant. She hears the panic in everyone's whispers, the raw fear. Out of all the mutants in that crowd, she is the only one considering volunteering. Because out of all the other mutants, she is the best candidate. Any of them that know her agree on that. Taking a deep breath, she steps through the crowd and to the stage. "I volunteer." Loki looks her over. "A brave one I see; but are you ,indeed, a mutant?" The girl nods slowly to him. "And can you prove it?" He asks, watching her closely. Three razor sharp metal claws come out of each of her clenched fists with a snikt. "Do you need anymore proof then that?" She asks, her voice challenging. Loki smiles slightly. "Alright then. Come up." She walks up to the stage, retracting her claws before walking onto the stage. "That is all!" Loki yells out to the crowd. In an undertone, he speaks to her. "That is quite the impressive mutation." Her face remains emotionless as she replies. "That's not my mutation." Loki wonders what she means for a moment but does not ask. "Let us go.'' He walks her back to the tower that he claimed for his own. "What is your name?" He asks her when they arrive. She hesitates for a moment before answering him. "Laura."

"So what is it that you want from me?" Laura asks him as they reach the fifty-third floor and the elevator stops. Loki ignores her question and leads her to a room. "This will be yours." He opens the door for her, but she doesn't move. "What do you want from me?" She asks him again. Loki hesitates, his face turning a slight red. "What I want...is someone to talk to...someone I can trust and..." Laura nearly laughed. "You want a friend?" Loki scowled and opened his mouth to deny but he stopped. He lowered his head. "Yes. It sounds impossible I know..." Laura shook her head. "Not impossible, just unlikely. But I intend to try." She walked into the room, shutting the door behind her. Loki couldn't stop the thin smile from forming on his face as he turned and walked away.


	2. Chapter 2: Dinner with Loki

_Okay, before I start the next chapter I figured I should explain a couple things first. 'Laura' is a play off X23 but I've made a few changes. I took out the extra two claws that she has in her feet and added one one on each hand, making her more like Wolverine. Also, her story is a bit different than the original. Basically, she was another product of the Weapon X program instead of Hydra. She escaped and lived on the streets for years after that. Laura was offered a place with the X-men but denied, although she fought alongside them on several occasions. Also in this version, after Loki took control, the X-men scattered and went into hiding. As for updates, I'll be posting twice a week. Thanks to everyone who reads this! :)_

* * *

In her new room, Laura finds that clothes of all sizes had been put in the closet. After looking through them for a while, she finds something in her size that is sort of her taste: a pair of dark skinny jeans, a black tank, a green jacket, and a pair of boots. Sitting down on the bed next to the window, Laura looks out at the city's skyline. It was only months before that the attack had happened, and Loki took over. Thinking back to where she was then, it is a definite step up. Not that she's happy to be here, in fact it's probably the last place she'd want to be. She isn't sure she believed Loki when he said all he wanted was a friend, it didn't seem like something he would do. She rubs in between her knuckles subconsciously, something she often did after using her claws. Laura glances at the clock on the wall: 7:00. She wonders for a moment whether she will get dinner, but two sharp knocks at her door interrupt her thoughts. Laura glances up, surprised. She walks over to the door and opens it partly. It's Loki. "It...it is time for our meal." He says, a bit nervously. She nods and walks out of the room.

Loki leads her to a dining room on two floors up. On the table food is set up along it. The food itself is a variety of every kind of cuisine, a bit of everything. Loki chooses the foods that are most common on Asgard: fruits, and roast meat, and honeyed everything. Laura takes a small portion of everything on the table, filling her plate as much as she can. When she sat down, Loki sat in the chair across from her. Laura ate quickly, like she hadn't eaten in weeks. "The food will still be there if you eat slowly, you know." He said, noticing how she is eating. She looked up, a bit embarrassed. "Sorry...I haven't been able to eat like this in a while." Laura slows down her pace, being more careful as she eats. "What do you mean by that?" He asks her. She looks up again, hesitating to answer. "I..I've been living on the streets for a long time now, I ate when I could." She looks away. Loki nods slightly, unsure what to say to her. "Well you don't have to worry about going hungry anymore." She smiles a little, continuing to eat. After a moment of silence she tries for a conversation. "So how do you want me to address you? My Lord and Your Highness aren't really names you call a friend, if that is what you want." He answers her after a moment. "It is...call me Loki." Laura nods. "So tell me Loki, why a mutant?" He smiles slightly, she can't tell if it was sincere or not. "I find mortals a bit boring. I'm also interested in finding out what potential mutants have." She nods, continuing to eat her food. "As far as mutants go," She says after a moment. "I'm one of the more powerful ones, you can't base your standard on all of us on just me." Loki adds some food to his plate. "I'm interested to see your powers at work, but that will have to wait until tomorrow." Suddenly, a guard rushes into the room. It is one of the few humans Loki had hired to work for him, one who swore their loyalty to him. "My Lord!" He says urgently, hastily bowing to Loki. "The Chitauri have caught two humans trying to get into the tower." Loki stands. "Lead me to them." He starts to follow the man but stops, glancing back at Laura. "Come with us." She nods slightly and follows close behind Loki.

"Let us go!" One of the intruders shouts angrily at the Chitauri, struggling against their grip. The other stays quiet and comes without a fight, knowing it is pointless to fight. "_We found this trying to get into the tower."_ One of the Chitauri says in it's language as Loki approaches. "_They had these." _It says to Loki, tossing several guns on the ground in front of his feet. A scepter appears in Loki's hand and he steps forward. "Oh really? How interesting..." Loki lunges forward, grabbing the one who is still struggling and holds the scepter against his throat. "What were you planning to do?" The intruder glares at him. "We were planning to free the world from your rule." Loki laughs a cruel, mirthless laugh that doesn't reach his cold eyes. "With Midgardian weapons? Foolish mortals! They're useless! And now you will pay for your treachery!" Loki says angrily and swings his scepter at the intruder.

"Stop!" Laura's voice rings out through the room and Loki stops his swing right before it reached the man's throat. The man lets out a breath of relief but the fear doesn't leave his eyes. Loki turns to her with an icy glare. "And why should I listen to you?" She steps forward to him, clenching her fists. "Just let them go, they won't try again." He looks at her for a moment before nodding once. "Take them away." Loki says to his Chitauri. "Make sure they get out of the city." He adds. "_Yes, my Lord."_ One answers and they pull the two away.

"Thank you." Laura says quietly as Loki turns back to her. He says nothing, walking past her back towards the dining room. After a moment's hesitation she follows him. When she gets to the dining room, Loki has sat down at the table and continued to eat. "I only did that because I want you to like me, and I see that if I had gone through with it you wouldn't." Laura only nodded slightly and starts to eat her food again. When Loki finishes her food he stands. "Goodnight Laura, I will see you in the morning." He nods to her and walks to the elevator, getting in and going up. It takes her a few more minutes to finish her food. After she does, Laura goes back to her room. Sighing, she lays on the bed staring up at the ceiling for a minute or so. Laura quickly changed into something comfortable enough for sleeping and laid down on the bed. Pulling the blanket over her, she fell asleep almost instantly.


End file.
